


Necessity

by usednapkin



Series: Necessity [1]
Category: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:21:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24992215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/usednapkin/pseuds/usednapkin
Summary: This story follows the main plot line of mobile game, Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery, but I change the things I don't like and add more details/stories not disclosed in game.In this chapter, you go to Diagon Alley!
Series: Necessity [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1809235
Kudos: 7





	1. Misfortunes at Diagon Alley

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment about what you liked and what you would like to see! I want this to be appealing to as many people as possible. Also romantic relationships will develop later on so I'm not going to put any tags on this just yet, enjoy!

It's Saturday, the sun begins to peak in through the blinds of your bedroom. Today is the day that your parents had once again promised to take you to Diagon Alley to buy your supplies for Hogwarts. You have been bugging your parents every day since you received your letter nearly a month ago. They had agreed on several other occasions, but would make up excuses to not go.

Now, school is right around the corner and they don't have any more excuses.

You're still laying in bed when you awaken. You slowly open your eyes and are met with another pair of bright green eyes staring back at you. You are only startled for a moment before you realize that they belong to your cat, Smudge. You really hate when he does that, but at least after you have a heart attack you get to start your morning petting the cutest boy in the world.

Once Smudge decides to move off of you, you get out of bed and walk into the bathroom to wake yourself up a little. You hear movement coming from the outside of the door, which means your parents are awake. 

You finish up in the bathroom and sprint to your room to get dressed. Practically running into the kitchen, you greet your parents. Your dad is making breakfast and your mom is putting away dishes. They confirm that Diagon Alley is officially happening today. Once your dad serves your plate, you scarf down your food and insist your parents follow in your hurried manor.

They don’t, but eventually you all make it out of the house.

You get into the backseat of your parents car and buckle yourself in while you wait for your parents to do the same. Once everyone is settled, your dad takes off.

…………….

During the ride there, you look at the scratches on the seat in front of you. You recall that they’re from Smudge two summers ago when he was just a little kitten. Jacob did not like Smudge, but Smudge loved Jacob. He sat in Jacob’s lap the whole ride, after he got in trouble for scratching up the passenger seat. 

You smile to yourself, that was a good day. It was one of the last times you really go to spend time with your brother.

…………….

You arrive at Diagon Alley, you insist that your parents let you at least go shopping by yourself. After all, you are eleven now and if you are going to find Jacob you have to be capable of going to shops alone. Plus, it's embarrassing having them baby you in public. Reluctantly, your parents agree as long as you follow the three million rules they have. 

1.) No going past Ollivanders  
2.) No talking to strangers  
3.) ??????

You kind of stopped listening after that. 

Eventually they stop giving you rules and give you one last hug before they begin walking the opposite way. Once they’re out of your sight, you speed walk your way to Ollivanders.

Soon you see the peeling “Ollivanders” sign a short distance away, but your view is soon interrupted by an abrupt collision. 

“Oh my gosh.” says the stranger you just bumped into, you didn’t even see her coming. She looks your age, so you decide it's okay to talk to her. You notice her looking at the ground, so you follow her gaze and see a pair of glasses on the ground. 

Oh no.

“I’m sorry,” you must have bumped her so hard you knocked her glasses off, so you pick them up and hand them to her. “I didn’t mean to.” 

You feel bad, but at least the glasses didn't break.

She wipes the lenses and fumbles to put them back on her face. “It’s okay, really. Where are you headed anyways that you need to walk so fast?”

You blush a little, not thinking you were walking that fast. You think about the danger of giving away your intended location, but decide she’s not a threat 

“I’m going to Ollivanders.” you say politely.

The girl’s face lights up. “Ollivanders, really? Did you know that Garrick Ollivander is the descendant of the original Ollivander?” 

You really don't have time for this, but you also don’t want to be rude to someone who you just knocked their glasses off. 

“No I haven’t, but hey I really have to-”

She cuts you off, or continues talking, you’re not actually sure if she even heard you.

“And it is believed that the very first Ollivander arrived with the Romans in 382 B.C AND did you also know that someone once tried to break in-”

Okay, you really have to go. 

“Hey that’s neat and all…” you stop mid-sentence, realizing you don’t even know this girl’s name.

The girl can tell that you’re waiting for her to introduce herself. She smiles and stretches her hand forward. 

“I’m Rowan, Rowan Khanna” 

You look at it and look back up at her, you don’t want to introduce yourself, but you know it would be rude not to. So you warily extend your own hand and introduce yourself.

She shakes your hand firmly, “Right Rowan,” you say “But I got to go.”

Rowan apologizes for keeping you and adds “Well it was nice _running _into you” she giggles at her own humor and adds “can I expect to see you at Hogwarts?”__

____

__

You slightly hope you don’t see her at Hogwarts, nothing against her but you know you’ll need all of your focus to find Jacob. Regardless, you tell her that you will be attending your first year this September. She informs you that she too will be going into her first year, along with other details that you really did not have to know. After a few more excruciating minutes you both part ways, something tells you that won’t be the last time you encounter this girl.

Maybe in another setting you would have enjoyed the interaction, but you’ve been waiting weeks for this moment.

…………….

It feels like it has been a lifetime, but you finally enter Ollivander’s. The shop is small and all dimly lit. You wonder if Ollivander ever cleans the place. The walls around you are cluttered with boxes, there had to be at least a hundred thousand wands in this tiny place. You wonder how the man even finds the wand he’s looking for.

As you walk in a little more, Mr.Ollivander’s emerges from behind a bookcase.

He is excited to see another future witch seek a wand from his shop. 

“Good morning young lady, what brings you in today?”

A silly question you think, but you respond kindly. 

“Hello, I’m here to find my first wand.”

He nods and begins to look around. He goes on a short tangent about wands and how a wand is just as powerful as the Wizard who wields it. It was a very wise and inspiring speech, however, you merely want a wand that will be powerful enough to find Jacob.

After going through five wands you’re officially embarrassed and are convinced that no wand wants to be yours. You feel extremely discouraged and like you’re failing your brother. He probably got the perfect wand first try.

Ollivander explains that it takes some witches and wizards time for a wand to choose. He insists that this next one will be the wand you were meant to wield.

“11 inches long, holly with a phoenix feather core.”

The moment you held the wand, you felt different. Maybe this could be it.

You recite the spell told to you by Ollivander. You feel your body levitate, only you are still grounded. Your wand begins to illuminate the walls. It's perfect.

Ollivander is beaming with happiness. 

“Use it wisely, Phoenix core is among the rarest wand cores, they are capable of great magic. They act on their own accord, so be kind to it and have patience.”

Great. The one thing you lack and it’s the one thing you need to make your wand like you. Still you are overwhelmed with happiness.

“Thank you Mr.Ollivander.” you hand him 7 galleons and walk out of the store, proud to have such an impressive wand choose you.  
…………….

After a long afternoon in Diagon Alley, you have finally checked off everything on your list! Sadly, you needed to get your parents after the first bookstore you went into to gather some of your textbooks to help you carry everything, but you at least got your wand all by yourself.

When you get home your mom makes you leave your wand in its box and in your suitcase in your parents room. Their rules on magic have increased dramatically since Jacob's disappearance. You thought it they were restrictive before, but now it's much worse. 

…………….

Dinner is quiet, as usual. There isn’t much to talk about these days. Plus, you don’t feel like you can talk about your time in the wand shop either because as exciting as it was, you don’t want to risk getting in trouble for talking about magic in the house. You also don’t want to talk about the weird girl you met either because you know it will turn into a lecture about talking to strangers.

Once you finish eating you walk to your bedroom and see a giant black entity laying on your bed, making it look even smaller than it is. You sit down next to the beast and start petting his fur, causing Smudge to pur in delight. You tell him all about your day, you know you probably look ridiculous talking to a cat, but you don't care.

He’s been there for you since Jacob's been gone. He can’t talk back, obviously, but you know he understands you somehow and you can trust him. 

You’re glad your parents are letting you take him with you to Hogwarts, but you knew they would let you. They didn’t even want him in the first place, they wouldn’t mind sending him off with you.

You can’t wait to finally be able to learn and use magic. Most of all you’re determined to get Jacob back home, clear your family name, and put all of the rumors to rest.

You know he’s out there somewhere, you can feel it.


	2. Sounds Familiar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter we meet Rowan and finally make our way to start our first year at Hogwarts!

It is 6 a.m and you are wide awake despite only having slept 5 hours. You don’t have to leave for quite some time, but you are just too excited to go back to sleep.

You walk over to the outfit you picked out the night before and put it on. Looking in the mirror again, you realize it actually isn’t the look you want. The pants are good, but you need to pick out a new top. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s comfortable, but it has a lot of colors in the design. You wanted to wear a little more color than you have been, but you’re just not ready for that kind of change yet. So you throw on a plain black knitted sweater instead.

Just in case, you carefully check your bags to make sure you have everything that you wrote down on your packing list two more times. 

Yup, everything is there as it should be. You even set your favorite book,  _ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _ on top of your luggage rather than with the rest of your textbooks because you plan on reading it on the train to Hogwarts. 

You hear a slight knock at your door,

“Yes?” you say looking towards where the noise was coming from.

It’s your mom, she pushes the door open slightly so that only her nose enters the room “Honey, does French Toast sound okay this morning?”

Duh, of course it does, it’s only your favorite breakfast food. It’s practically dessert, but you can eat it as breakfast and your parents won’t yell at you for it!

Happily, you answer “Sounds good to me, thanks.”

“No problem sweetie.” she leaves your room and predictably doesn’t shut the door. 

The chatter causes Smudge to emerge from his slumber from underneath your bed. He is ready to be pet. You gladly oblige and spend a good five minutes stroking his fur. 

………….

When you arrive at the station, the reality finally sets in that you are really going to Hogwarts to learn magic. You haven’t looked forward to something so much in a long time.

While walking towards platform 9 and ¾ your parents spend the whole walk expressing how proud they are of you and the dangers the learning magic presents. They’re not trying to scare you, but you are scared. Sometimes you wish they weren’t so protective over you, but you understand.

When you get to your destination, you await the train’s arrival with your parents. They’ve grown quiet now, but your head is racing.

The nerves in your system have only risen. Never have you been more simultaneously nervous and excited in your life. Unlike at home, you will finally be able to use magic to your fullest capability. The things that you’ll learn at school will help you find Jacob and hopefully bring him back home. Maybe then you’ll see your parents really smile again.

The noises of the train arriving distract you from your thoughts. Just as the clock turns to 11 a.m, it is time to board.

You hug your parents goodbye and walk into the crowd of students. Slowly you make it to the Conductor of the train. You pet the top of Smudge’s paw through his carrier and tell him to be a good kitty while you’re gone. With that, you hand off your things and climb into the train.

You walk down the aisle until you find yourself an empty cabin. Setting your book off to the side, you peer outside of the window to scan the crowd for your parents. Eventually you find them appear in front of the sea of other parents.

Your mom smiles and brings up her hands to sign,

“We love you.” your dad follows with a more stern face and adds,

“You stay safe, keep out of trouble.” You roll your eyes.

Changing your face to a softer expression, you sign back to them, “I love you both. Yes dad.”

Shortly after, you feel the jolt of the train starting to take off. You wave goodbye to your parents as they wave goodbye to you. You only put your hand down when they’re about the size of a sickle.

It’s gonna be a while til you get to Hogwarts, so you grab  _ Fantastic Beasts  _ that you had previously set aside and begin to open it. That’s when you hear your cabin door open abruptly. 

You hear a familiar voice start to speak before you see their face, “Hey the other cabins are full I was wondering if-”

Just as you look up at the interruption you immediately recognize who is intruding upon your reading.

The girl from Diagon Alley gasps and exclaims “Merlin’s beard, Alexis!?”

She takes the seat across from you and in response you close your book, accepting that this will no longer be a suitable train ride for reading.

“Yeah, it’s me.” you say dryly. 

You didn’t mean to sound so unenthused by her arrival, but you can’t take it back now. Her face falls a little, you can tell she feels a little hurt by your tone. 

Feeling guilty, you apologize. You’re never this rude to someone you just met. “I’m sorry, I've been kind of a jerk to you since we met in Diagon Alley. Honestly I didn’t even bother to remember your name because I didn’t think we’d meet again.”

Now you’ve really done it. The girl looks like her puffskein just died, wow you are really not great at apologizing.

You sheepishly try to fix the situation you’ve created and say “Uh what I’m trying to say is… can we start over? I didn’t mean to be rude to you in the past, or now.”

This new apology seemed to have worked, because now she looks like she just won a thousand galleons.

“Rowan. Rowan Khanna.” She says firmly with a smile across her face and extends her hand.

You shake her hand and introduce yourself again. You didn’t mean to say your last name, but it slipped.

Rowan begins to look at the ceiling as if trying to recall something.

“Your last name… it’s familiar. Are your parents famous or something?”

It starts to get a little hot in the cabin suddenly. 

You’re trying to find the right words to say, “Uh well-”

Thankfully you don’t have to finish your sentence, knocking at the cabin door interrupts you. In even better turns of events, it's the Honeydukes trolley cart lady.

Your parents gave you some pocket change specifically to buy a few items off of the cart because they know how much you love sweets. 

You end up getting one pumpkin pastie, a stack of cauldron cakes, and of course one chocolate frog. Rowan on the other hand, only gets herself an iced pumpkin juice and a chocolate frog.

As the trolley cart lady leaves Rowan goes on a tangent about the origins of chocolate frog cards. You didn’t need to know that there was a full fledged history of chocolate frog cards to begin with, but you had to admit it was pretty cool.

Eventually Rowan opens her chocolate frog excitedly, “I hope I get another Dumbledore, I already got six at home! Not to mention three of his bonus cards.” She adds proudly.

Six? Why would she want to make it seven? Whatever, you open yours now that you’re curious about who came with your frog.

“YES! He’s perfect.” you look to see Rowan admiring her seventh Dumbledore card, meanwhile you got Bertie Bott. “Do you want my frog Alexis? I don’t care much for sweets.”

“Sure, thanks.” you take her frog and joyfully eat it. Head first.

“Sooo, about your parents,” Rowan has that ‘yeah i didn’t forget” look on her face. “Are they famous or what?” she asks, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice.

Wow this girl does not let anything go. Should you tell her about Jacob? You know that’s why your last name is familiar. It was only plastered on every Daily Prophet headline for months two years ago. But you only did just meet...you don’t even know if you can trust her yet. She seems to have a vast knowledge about things, even if they’re not particularly significant. She could be useful…..

Rowan says something that snaps you out of your thoughts, but you couldn’t quite make out what she said. 

Confused, you ask, “What was that?”

“Oh I was just saying that if you’re not comfortable answering my question, you don’t have to.” she says politely. You appreciate her respectfulness, you think you’ve made your decision.

You clear your throat and prepare yourself for a long conversation.

……………..

Rowan looks dumbfounded.

“So you’re…”

“Yes.” you say flatly.

Rowan looks like she’s solving a long math problem, “And Jacob is-”

“Mhm” you say while taking a sip of your half-finished pumpkin juice.

She pushes her glasses up onto her head and rubs her eyes in disbelief.

Rowan carefully puts her glasses on the bridge of her nose and clears her throat. 

“So Jacob is your brother and he got expelled from Hogwarts for messing with the Cursed Vaults, which no one believes is a real thing, and putting students in danger? AND not only that, but he is believed to be working with you know who? Which is why you haven’t seen or heard from him in two years. AND some people think that he’s probably dead… but you think he’s alive and never worked for he who shall not be named?”

You’re surprised she’s not out of breath. “Yeah that’s the gist of it…”

“So you’re coming to Hogwarts to find out what happened to him?” she asks curiously.

You prepare yourself for Rowan to leave the cabin and never talk to you again.

“Well, yeah that’s the goal,” you say quietly. “I know, I sound crazy and you probably think I work for Him too, but I swear Jacob would never-”

Unexpectedly Rowan interrupts, “That is awesome! I totally want in on that, please please let me help you. I can be your cute knowledgeable adventure sidekick!”

You’re in utter disbelief.

“Look, I don’t really have any friends. Everyone thinks I’m weird too, we could be weird together!” she says cheerfully.

You wouldn’t call your brother missing awesome, but you appreciate the enthusiasm Rowan has. It’s nice to hear that at least someone believes in you.

“Maybe, I’ll have to think about it, Rowan.” you say kindly.

This doesn’t discourage Rowan in the least. The rest of the train ride you guys continue to talk, mostly about each of your excitements about going to Hogwarts.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has left "kudos" on this work and take the time out to read it! This is just something i'm doing for fun, so it's cool to even see one person reading my work / interacting with it :)


	3. New Term, New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sorting ceremony begins and MC starts to realize that things are changing, perhaps for the better!

After a couple of hours, it is dark outside and Hogwarts is finally in sight. You and Rowan are already dressed in your school robes after Rowan insisted you both get ready early.

Once the train slows to a stop you and Rowan climb out of the cabin and out into the corridor. It is flooded with students standing shoulder to shoulder. It is uncomfortable to be standing next to so many people at once, but the pools of students appear to be flushing out rather quickly. Rowan grabs your robes gently, you assume it's to not lose each other. 

You both step out of the train’s carriage, you are greeted with a stunning view of the Castle. It is magnificently lit up with its reflection gracing the waters of the lake below it. A large man stands in front of you along with the other students who are waiting for the last students to emerge. Soon, everyone is out of the carriage and the man finally introduces himself as the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, or Hagrid. Some students, including Rowan, seem afraid of him. He has a nice tone, a little hairy, but he is very tall. Much taller than the average man. This is probably why some are looking at him like he just ate their family’s kneazle. 

Hagrid guides everyone to a fleet of small boats on the lake that surrounds Hogwarts. Rowan informs you that it is the Black Lake. She also graciously cautions you about the dangers of said lake by reciting every incident she ever read about since 990 A.D.

“Rowan, seriously?” you hissed “Now is  **not** the time to tell me about killer lake creatures and freak accidents.” As much as you love magical creatures, some still scare you.

She scratches the back of her head nervously and apologizes, “Sorry, I think it’s fascinating, but I’ll stop.”

She didn’t stop, but she at least refrained from telling you any more of the horrific accidents that have happened at this lake.

……………..

Hagrid carefully leads the boats full of students safely onto a small landing stage. From there, you all walk a short path up to the main entrance of the castle. You can hear whispers of chatter from the other students about what is next to come. They are all talking about what house they want to be sorted into. So far, it sounds like Slytherin is the house to avoid.

“I think I’ll probably get put into Ravenclaw.” Rowan pondered.

“I don’t care what house I’m put into.” you reply.

“WHAT? How could you  _ not  _ care? The sorting ceremony will decide your entire fate at Hogwarts and you just...don’t care?” Rowan is clearly shocked.

“Well, I just think that the hat should put me where it truly believes I belong. I don’t want to give myself expectations or mess with my sorting. I want it to be genuine.” you explain.

“Huh. I never thought about it like that.” Rowan appears to be in honest thought.

She breaks her silence. “I still think I’ll be put in Ravenclaw, but I’ll keep what you said in mind.” she says with a smile on her face.

Once you get to the main doors, it is unlike anything you imagined, or what Rowan explained. The ceilings appear infinite, the floors look brand new, and not to mention all of the portraits are waving to the first-years.

Finally, you arrive at the Great Hall. There is a section grandly decorated in honor of each House. It’s beautiful, but your stomach is nearly empty, you wish you all could eat before the ceremony. 

“Hey Rowan,” you nudge her to grab her attention, “How long is the ceremony?”

“Oh I don’t know,”

“Ugh” you moaned, dragging your hands over your face.

Rowan giggles, “I think the longest recorded sorting ceremony was three hours I believe, but typically they run much much shorter than that.” she finished.

“Well I hope this one goes quick, I’m getting hungry and I don’t want to be standing for three hours.” you worried.

You notice the room get quiet and turn your attention to the front stage where none other than Albus Dumbledore stands. He greets returning and incoming students and gives a small heart warming speech. The room bursts into cheers and applause, then it settles down once again. Dumbledore allows a stern looking woman to begin speaking now. She introduces herself as Professor Minerva McGonagall and head of Gryffindor house and begins the sorting ceremony. 

You hear a whisper come from Rowan, but didn’t quite grasp what she said.

“What?” you question back.

“I said I’m starting to get nervous now, what if I’m put into Slytherin?” she frets.

You put your hand on her shoulder and reassure her, “Rowan if you get put into Slytherin I would still be your friend. And who knows? I might be in Slytherin with you!” you cheered.

Rowan looks to be getting her confidence back, “Yeah you’re right, thank you.”

About twenty people had to have been sorted by now and finally you hear it. It’s your name being called. Rowan pats your back as she wishes you good luck, then you two part ways. 

The Hall fills with little whispers and painfully obvious stares from the professors. You know why, and try to ignore it, but it fails. If you weren’t nervous before, then you sure as Merlin’s beard are now. The whispers of the room are replaced with the sound of your heart pounding in your ears. You really wish Smudge could be in your arms right about now.

After what feels like a lifetime, you make it to the sorting hat. You sit in the lone chair and McGonagall places the Sorting Hat upon your head.

The hat grumbles, “No preference aye? Well surely you must want to be placed somewhere...hmmmm…. Yes, very interesting…. You can be successful anywhere young one. What about...Slytherin?” it snickered.

“If that’s what you think..” you trail off in thought.

The hat is quiet, you don’t realize you have been holding your breath until you’re struggling to breathe.

“GRYFFINDOR!” the hat thunders, causing the Gryffindor section to erupt into ear shattering celebration.

You stand up and walk eagerly towards your house table. You have never seen yourself as a courageous person, Jacob was and that’s why he was put into Gryffindor. But you, you never were as brave as him. You don’t understand what the hat sees in you, but you are thankful. Being in Gryffindor makes you feel more connected to him, you only hope that the hat didn’t make a mistake.

You spot Rowan from the crowd of unsorted first-years and she waves excitedly at you, you return the wave with a smile spread across your face. You haven’t felt happy like this in a long time, you’re proud of yourself.

One of the House Prefect’s, as indicated on her badge, waves you down to sit next to her along with the other first-years sorted into Gryffindor thus far. She offers her hand and congratulates you.

“Angelica Cole, I’m one of the Gryffindor’s Prefects,” she began as you sat down. Names continue to be called as you introduce yourself.

“I’m-” but you’re cut off by Angelica.

“I know who you are, in fact I’ve heard quite a bit about you. Your background mostly. As you know it’s my job to keep Gryffindor in check.” she stops to allow the cheers of Slytherin to mellow out.

“And given your background, I will be keeping a close eye on you. Do not put Gryffindor’s integrity at risk, on top of that I plan on us winning the House Cup this year. This is your only warning.” she finishes with a smirk that you know is strictly superficial as she claps for the newly sorted Gryffindor. 

She doesn’t give time for you to reply and gets up to greet the first year and lead him to another House Prefect. You sit there stunned and a little discouraged. It might be harder to find out what happened to Jacob if your own House is against you.

A few more names get called and you start to wonder when Rowan’s will be next.

“Rowan Khanna.” McGonagall states clearly.

You light up with excitement, you already know what house she’ll be put in, but still you’re eager to know what the Sorting Hat has to say.

It’s hard to hear what the hat has to say, but you make out the words “You’re sure about that?”

The very next moment the hat roars, “GRYFFINDORRRR!”

You find yourself standing up almost instinctively and cheering just as loudly as the sixth and seventh years are.

Rowan quickly stands up and practically runs to you at the Gryffindor table, gliding right past Angelica. 

She hugs you for a moment and you both sit down.

“I can’t believe we both got sorted into Gryffindor!” you exclaim.

“Yeah, that makes two of us” she agreed.

The ceremony lasts not too long after that, Dumbledore makes another speech but this time short and sweet. 

The Start-of-Term feast commences at Dumbledore’s command, you had forgotten that you were hungry in the first place. Now that the food is in front of you, you are reminded that you are starving.

Mid-feast you bring up your encounter with Angelica from earlier to Rowan.

“I don’t think she likes me much.” you mumbled with food still in your mouth.

Rowan looks at Angelica and looks back at you, “I think she’s just trying to become Head Girl is all. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” she reassures you.

“Yeah, you’re right.” you agree and continue scarfing down your meal. 

……………..

After the feast, you and a large group of first year students are guided to the Gryffindor Common Room. A couple of Prefects lead the way and give commentary about the castle along the way. Of course, Rowan knows more than both of them and mutters more information with every word that comes out of either Prefects mouth.

The group comes to a halt at the portrait of the “Fat Lady”. Angelica Cole gives an unnecessarily long speech about the password rules and finally whispers the password.

You didn’t hear it, but you assume Rowan did so you’ll have to ask later. 

The Fat Lady allows the group to enter, stepping through the entrance you are advised to fill in the space and listen to Angelica.

Angelica and her mate both explain that the room you are standing in is the Gryffindor Common Room. They list the rules of the common room and remind students of the rules for the dormitories. 

You start to take the time to look around you. The common area is brilliantly decorated. A large brick fireplace warms the room and highlights its features. Above you is a grand chandelier that looks like it costs more than your house.

Once you snap back to reality, the male Prefect is calling for all of the Gryffindor boys to follow him and Angelica beckons for the girls to do the same.

Your group walks up a few flights of stairs and comes to a landing.

Angelica starts to call out names and point them in the direction of their new rooms. Angelica informs you and Rowan that you are rooming together along with two other girls. She points to the door down the corridor and reveals it to be your shared dorm.

You and Rowan walk together down the hall as you reach the end you extend your arm out to open the door. Inside is a decently sized space with four beds, the other two girls haven’t arrived yet, so for the time being you and Rowan have the room to yourselves.

All of your belongings have been neatly stored away, as well as Rowan’s. An all black figure creeps out from under your bed and rubs against your leg.

“Smudge!” you shout leaning down to pet your dearly missed cat.

Rowan joins you and introduces herself to Smudge. He likes her, which is good because you just started to like Rowan.

“He is sooo cute, and big!” she observes, scratching his chin.

“Believe it or not he was actually small once.” you chuckle and begin to stand back up properly.

“I don't.” Rowan adds, as she too gets up.

You begin to realize how tired you are and announce that you’re going to get ready for bed. Rowan agrees and gets ready as well. Eventually the other two girls show up, but they stay quiet and to themselves mostly. They seem nice, just not really interested in talking.

You and Rowan both sit on your bed, she’s already excited for classes tomorrow. You are too, but she is more excited than a normal person should be.

“What? Does learning  _ not _ excite you or something?” she implored.

“No, you just seem…  _ too _ excited. I like it, but I have never met anyone even a little excited for History of Magic.” you replied. “I’m still shocked you didn’t get put into Ravenclaw.”

At that, Rowan looked away and really anywhere but at you.

You raised your brow and asked “Rowan. Why are you acting weird?”

She remained quiet, but you wanted an answer. “Rowan, seriously or I’m pushing you off this bed.” you threatened and began to inch closer to her with your palms facing her.

“Okay okay okay!!! Put those things away,” she yelped. “I asked to be Gryffindor!” She blurted.

You don’t know what to say.

“Once I saw you be sorted into Gryffindor, I wanted to be too. If we’re gonna find your brother, we need to be together. And plus, I don’t like breaking rules. And we would need to break the rules so you can come into the Ravenclaw common room and I really didn’t want to risk get-”

You decide to cut her off before she rambles your ears off. “Thank you,” you start off quietly “you didn’t have to do that for me Rowan, I don’t know what to say.”

“Say nothing, that’s what friends are for.” she assures you.

…………..

Eventually Rowan went back to her own bed and the two other students stopped chattering too. You lie in bed thinking about what Rowan did. You didn’t want to admit it at first, but she is your friend. 

You haven’t really been able to make friends since Jacob’s disappearance. No one wanted to be the death eater's sister's friend or their parents would stop your friends from seeing you again. After a while, you decided it was best to never talk to anyone ever unless spoken to or you absolutely had to. Rowan’s different though, she understands what it's like and hasn’t given you a reason to not trust her. From now on, Rowan is your friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love love love Rowan and I promise if you find Rowan annoying in game - you will fall in love with this Rowan. I like the idea of true best friends for life and that is exactly what Rowan will be! I hope this chapter was a fun read, thank you to anyone who is actually keeping up with this story (not sure if anyone is lmao)


	4. Boom. A New Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, you and Rowan go to some of your first classes at Hogwarts!

You open your eyes wishing you had gone to sleep much earlier than you did the night before. You could hardly sleep last night, between you and Rowan staying up late talking and your mind racing about classes today, you maybe got three hours of sweet sweet sleep. 

Even with the sleep deprivation you are awake well before you have to be, but that’s okay because now you have some time to spend with Smudge. He’s already at the foot of your bed and once he hears you awake he stretches and slides his way into your side. You can feel him purring heavily into your side. You stay like this for a while until you forget about your first-day jitters.

The sound of Rowan getting out of her bed signals that it is time for you to get up as well. You sit up, causing Smudge to elegantly jump off of your mattress and onto the rug below, causing Rowan to walk towards him. As she strokes his fur she says good morning to him first, then to you warmly.

The other two Gryffindor girls remained asleep, which only slightly worries you. It’s not your job to wake them, so you brush it off, grab your school robes, and walk off into the corridor.

…………..

You await for Rowan in the Common Room, it looks a bit different in the daylight than in the nighttime. You can see more of the brilliant detailing in the room than the night prior. Some of the portraits seemed to have walked away from their posts.

After about a minute of standing you begin to feel the weight of your supplies, so you choose a nicely cushioned seat to wait for Rowan. You watch a few students emerge from the corridors, some excited, some worried, and some couldn’t care less about the first day of the school year. One boy in particular, who looked older, came from the boys dormitory tower and as he strolled through the common room with a fellow Gryffindor he kept a suspicious gaze towards you. Once the pointing started, you had enough.

You launch yourself out of the comfy chair and walk up to the two strangers, “What’s your problem?” you question them in a raised voice. They both practically snap their necks turning to face you. Behind them, you can see Rowan finally coming out into the common room.

The boy looked shocked only for a moment, but immediately spat back, “I just can't believe they let the sibling of a  _ known _ death eater and mental nutcase into Hogwarts. Not to mention he ruined Gryffindor’s reputation.”

You grit your teeth, “First of all, I didn’t ask to be put into Gryffindor.”

“Yeah well we certainly didn’t  _ ask _ for you” the second boy scoffs, the first boy laughs at his friend’s joke. 

You can see Rowan is getting uncomfortable in the background, so instead of tearing these imbeciles' heads off, you roughly bump into both of them with your weighted book bag beside you. 

In a stern voice, loud enough for the cowards to hear, you say “They’re not worth it, let’s go Rowan.” 

As you step out into the halls of the West Tower, Rowan begins her apology.

“I’m so sorry for not saying anything back there. I just- I’m not very good at those situations and I didn’t want to say anything about your brother that you didn’t want people to know.” she confessed. You both continued to walk toward the Great Hall.

“It’s okay Rowan, really. I’m not mad at you at all, those guys were being rude for no reason. It’s too early for nonsense.” you assured her the best you could, you did not expect her to even show up during the interaction. 

“Anyways,” you try to change the subject “I’m excited for classes, what about you?” you wonder.

Rowan’s face lights up like a Christmas tree, you knew bringing up classes would put her in a better mood.

“Well actually, now that you bring it up I am SO looking forward to classes. I wonder if we have any together…” she wondered, pulling out a piece of parchment.

You pull out your own schedule while idly following Rowan’s direction.

“Oh!” Rowan begins swiftly pointing at the different places on her own parchment, “Looks like we have Charms, Potions, Flying… Herbology, and Transfiguration together!” she finishes.

“That’s like more than half of our classes, we can definitely study together.” you say as you stuff the paper back into your book bag.

Rowan starts to pick the pace back up, between waiting for Rowan and putting that third year in his place, the two of you will barely have time to eat.

Suddenly, the two of you end up at the Great Hall for breakfast. Next time you walk here, you need to pay more attention because you have no idea how Rowan got you both here. You walk in and find the nearest empty seats. There is not a lot of time to eat due to the little incident you had earlier, so you both inhale your food as fast as you both sat down.

Both of your first classes is Charms, you both get up and bolt out of the Great Hall.

As you two make your way through the halls briskly Rowan begins to speak,

“I’m a bit nervous,” Rowan admits.

“What? Why?” you inquire, Rowan is a very intellectual girl, you bet she’s read a ton of books on various Charms. There should be no reason for her to worry.

“I’m afraid I won’t be any good, or that I’ll mispronounce a spell and the whole class will laugh at me.” her voice starts to get quiet towards the end.

“I can promise that won’t happen, Rowan. You are the smartest witch I know.” you try to reassure her between breaths as you two practically sprint to Charms.

You are actually really looking forward to Charms class, what you learn should be useful in finding Jacob. If you can get close to the professor, you’re hoping that they might teach you a little more than your peers.

With a minute to spare, you and Rowan make it on time to your first course. The room is nearly all Gryffindor students and only a few spots are open. You can tell that cliques have already begun to form, still there are some students who appear to be loners still.

You and Rowan choose your seats at the front of the room so that you could sit next to each other, plus it was better for your hearing. The professor, Flitwick as he introduces himself, is nearly half the size of the average man. What he doesn’t have in height, he makes up for in personality. He seems friendly and kind, you appreciate that in a teacher.

The class session is mostly just rules and introductions, the usual things to go over the first day of class. Flitwick only spends a minimal amount of time practicing a basic beginners charm, according to Rowan,  _ lumos _ . 

Some students immediately were able to cast a small orb of light from their wands, you noticed yourself starting to pay more attention to them than your own work. So you take a breath and try again. 

This time, your wand produces a glaring radiance from your wand. The light catches Flitwick’s attention almost immediately, rushing towards you. He has a grin stretching from one cheek to another.

Clapping his hands frantically he praises your work, “Brilliant! Well done, very well done. That was the best Wand-Lighting charm I have ever seen from a first-year.”

His appraisal makes you blush, you don’t enjoy being the center of attention. “Thank you professor.”

After the interaction, Flitwick leaves to assist students around the classroom. You hear Flitwick applaud another young, blond, Gryffindor boy. His light was rather bright as well, almost as illuminant as yours.

You can tell Rowan was getting antsy, she had not yet been successful with the charm.

“Rowan,” you put your hand on her shoulder gently “just breathe slowly, and focus on the spell. Don’t worry about what other people are doing.” you finish. 

Rowan nods and takes in a deep breath, closing her eyes. When she opens them she begins to open her mouth to release the spell from her lips. 

_ “Lumos” _ she states firmly, flicking her wand.

A steady light shot out from the tip of her wand, success! Her work was equivalent to the other Gryffindor boy’s you saw earlier. Flitwick is extremely impressed with Rowan’s work, as are you.

“I knew you could do it!” you applaud as Rowan looks at you with the biggest grin on her face.

Shortly afterwards Flitwick dismisses class signaling that it is time for the next class, in your case this means Potions.

Since you and Rowan both have Potions next you both decide to walk there together.

While maneuvering through the castle, Rowan tells you all you need to know about the professor who teaches your upcoming class. Professor Snape. He also happened to be the Head of Slytherin, and by the sound of it you are grateful for the Sorting Hat not placing you in his house.

Once you enter the castle dungeons the temperature drops about three degrees, sending goosebumps down your arms and legs. 

As you near the classroom you see a Slytherin girl and the same blond Gryffindor boy from Charms. He doesn’t appear to be having a good time, in fact he looks like he’s about to cry.

“Filthy mudbloods like you should never be invited to Hogwarts. Everything scares you. How did they even let a coward like you into  _ Gryffindor _ ?” the girl let out a chilling cackle causing the boy to flinch.

“P-p-please can you let me go, I’m just trying to get to class.” he begged, trying to slide past her.

“No, make me. Oh wait, you can’t. No one can, because I’m the most powerful witch at Hogwarts.” she bragged.

“Actually… you can’t be the most powerful witch at Hogwarts…” Rowan spoke up, which shocked you, but you can tell she is not trying to pick a fight she is only being logical.

“Excuse you?” the Slytherin challenged.

Rowan looks at you, almost second guessing herself, but she continues. “It’s just… for you to say that is completely logically impossible! I’ve made numerous lists of the most powerful witches based on many factors and to simply put it, a first year could never make that list. You’re less powerful than Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, any seventh year even.”

You can see the girl’s face turning red with anger. With a clenched jaw and balled up fists she storms closer to the both of you, allowing the other boy to run into the Potions class. 

Rowan was starting to look a little pale now, which is saying something considering the amount of melanin in her skin. 

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” she says accusingly, shoving Rowan slightly.

That’s the last straw for you. This girl was already making you upset by bullying a fellow house member, but now she’s laying hands on your friend. You decide it’s time to get involved.

“Do not touch her.” you demand, stepping in between Rowan and the other Slytherin. 

“I don’t know about you, whatever your name is, but if you were really the most powerful witch at Hogwarts you wouldn’t be wasting your time bullying first-years.” you remark in a sly tone. 

“And who do you think you are?” she asks.

Before you could answer, Rowan chimes in from behind your shoulder in a timid voice to introduce you. “...and she should be the one claiming to be the strongest witch at Hogwarts. Professor Flitwick said that she casted the best wand-lighting charm of any first year student.”

With that you smile smugly and look at the Slytherin in front of you up and down to assert yourself.

“What are you smiling for? I know exactly who you are now.” she retorted, “Your brother went insane, disgraced his house, and got himself expelled. On top of that, he’s probably dead or working for You Know Who. You  _ both _ belong in despicable Gryffindor.” she spat.

You’re a bit taken back, so much so that all you can get out is, “Well who are  _ you _ ?”

“Merula Snyde. First-year Slytherin, and best witch at Hogwarts.” she began with pride in her voice. “I heard the other professors whispering about you at the feast, couldn’t put a face to the name though. Although now that I can… I suppose I could do Hogwarts a favor and put you out of your misery before you try to ruin it like your brother tried to.” she snickered.

You start seeing red, your hands curled into fists “First of all he didn’t-” but that’s all you could say before the door to Potions slams open.

It’s Professor Snape.

“I knew you would be trouble,” he says dully looking directly at you.

“But professor, this gir- I mean, Merula was bullying my friend.” you explained.

With no emotion Snape sends you all into the classroom, “Be thankful you are not headed to detention.” he adds.

Following Merula, you and Rowan walk into the classroom to find that it is mostly Slytherin in the class. There are only a couple of Ravenclaw students and the boy from earlier who are wearing other House robes. 

Since all three of you were the last ones to class, you all sat next to each other at the only open table with another two Slytherins. Great.

You try not to remember that not all Slytherins are awful like Merula… or Snape.

Snape begins the class promptly on time. His introduction was short and definitely not sweet, you can already tell when double-potions come around it will not be a fun time. Unlike Charms, Snape dives right into the lesson, Cure for Boils potion. 

To be good at potions requires patience, of which you do not really have, but you do pay attention to detail. A skill that you know will make up for your lack of patience in this class. You make sure to take proper notes and observe the demonstration as closely as you can.

Towards the end of class you begin to make the final preparations for your potion. Rowan gives you a confidence boost by complimenting your potion making abilities.

“Thank you Rowan,” you say kindly, but then you notice your potion starting to look weird.

“Uh, Rowan… you know what’s happening?” you ask, pulling on her robes to get her attention.

“Did you put Bulbadox powder in your potion? This looks like the beginning stages of an explosive reaction to bulbadox…” she says worriedly.

You raise an eyebrow and look back at your concoction, “Explosive?”

**_BOOM_ **

Your cauldron shatters into pieces on the table and the liquid is now everywhere.

“I should have never let you into my classroom, you have somehow managed to be worse than your brother. Do you have anything to say for yourself?” he waits for your response.

“Professor, I did everything right! Merula  _ must _ have sabotaged me because she’s insecure about her abilities.” you throw Merula under the bus, hoping Snape will agree.

“Is this true, Miss. Snide?” he looks to her,

“Absolutely not! She is just as mad as her brother if she thinks i’m threatened. She probably just wants to ruin everything at Hogwarts.” Merula defends herself, clearly lying.

“Your family has represented Slytherin well throughout the years, Miss Snyde. I will be watching you to ensure you follow suit. As for you,” he turns his gaze at you now, “Ten points from Gryffindor, clean this mess up. Now.” he ends off there and walks away.

Merula taunts you as soon as Snape is out of ear-shot. “You should’ve known that coaxing your cauldron with Bulbadox powder would cause it to explode, I suppose only a powerful witch would know that. And now everyone knows what a failure you are.” Merula snickers as you clean what once was your Cure for Boils potion.

Rowan tries to cheer you up, but it does not work. Finally Snape dismisses class, signaling break time. Merlin knows you need a good break.

You hurriedly pack up your belongings and walk out of the classroom with Rowan. 

“Hey,” you hear behind you, and somehow you just know it’s for you.

Already in a bad mood you bark back, “What?” rolling your eyes. You realize it was that other Gryffindor kid from charms class.

He’s looking at you like a deer in headlights, you regret being so rude. “I’m sorry, it was a rough class. What’s up?” you try fixing the situation, and it looks like it worked.

The blonde boy’s face looks less frightened now, “I um… I just wanted to say thank you. For standing up to Merula.”

The three of you now start walking down the corridor.

Before you could speak, Rowan asks the same thing you were about to, “You saw that?” she asked with a raised brow.

“Yeah I was actually just down the hall when it happened. I’ve been trying to follow her so she can’t sneak up on me.” he said shyly followed by “She tormented me the whole ride to Hogwarts. Kept threatening me and calling me a mud blood.” his expression turned sorrowful now.

“I am so sorry to hear that… what’s your name again?” you say, realizing you don’t actually know this kid. 

“Ben Copper. I’m a first year, like you guys!” he smiled, then went back in his shell again.

“Right, well, I’m sorry Ben. No need to thank me it was nothing. She seriously needed someone to put her in place anyway.” you say firmly as all of you navigate your way through the stairwell.

“She’s a piece of work Ben, I’m Rowan by the way.” she stuck out her hand, Ben reached for it hesitantly. 

“Well, I gotta get going now. It was nice meeting the both of you. See you around some time?” he didn’t seem so sure of that bit, but some part of you hoped to see him around some time.

“Hope so!” you say, in a more uplifting tone than you had begun the conversation with.

As Ben walks away, Rowan speaks. “He seems nice, I do wonder how he got sorted into Gryffindor though…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to anyone reading this. I feel like it's boring so far. I want to try to do better and be a better story teller. Thank you for bearing with me!!


End file.
